A beautiful wintersday

Even during winter we have warm days with lots of sunshine, and the nature is full of colors, as you can see on these photos taken yesterday:

Yellow ginger lily

Sete Cidades

Sea urchin

The nun and the monk of Mosteiros

Lagoa do Fogo walking tour

Yesterday we had a walking tour to Lagoa do Fogo, one of São Miguels volcanos with a wonderful lake in the crater. On this particular tour we eat lunch down by the lake and then we walk back, overlooking the lake and vegetation. After the walking, of 6 km up and 6 km down, we travel around by van or jeep and stop at a few viewpoints both over the lake at Lagoa do Fogo, the Atlantic ocean and Vila Franca do Campo with the Islet. Our grand final was a pause at Caldeira Velha where we had a nice swim in the waterfall before returning to Ponta Delgada. Photos from the trip:

Stopping at one view point before the walk

Watch this video and listen to the bird song 

On the way we stopped and looked at several plant species, 

some endemic to Azores, others coming from far like this Eucalyptus from Australia

On our way to Lagoa do Fogo lake (from South)

View over Lagoa do Fogo

One of our clients picking up rubbish by the lake. Good job!

Lunch by the lake

Leaving the lake

View point on the way back

A short break and resting the legs on the way back

Vila Franca Islet

We took the cars to this view point on the other side of the lake (North side)

A nice warm swim at Caldeira Velha

Natural boiling water at Caldeira Velha

What do to a rainy day

We had everything set for a great walking tour in Sete Cidades, but the rain and wind stopped us. So we had to settle for plan B and that was a wonderful experience. We visited a lot of interesting places around the west part of São Miguel. First we looked at the three lakes (Lagoa Azul, Lagoa Verde and Lagoa de Santiago), we stopped in Sete Cidades having a warm coffee and waiting out the rain. Later we stopped at Mosteiros, the look out point of Escalvado, Ferreira and Capelas to see the old whaling factory and Oficina Museu. Photos from the tour:

Between the lakes of Sete Cidades

Church in Sete Cidades

One of our vigias/look outs in Escalvado

Ferraria

Leftovers from a seagulls lunch

Lunch time

Mosteiros

Vidalia (endemic specie of Azores)

Photos below are taken at the Oficina Museu

Smithy

Fishing boat

Did you have one as a kid?

Sperm whale lower jaws

Model of a whaling boat

The harpooner

Class room

Azorean news papers

Photos below are from Capelas and the whaling factory

The whaling factory, 

you can see the chimney and the road where the whales were dragged

The winch to pull the whales from the water 

Boat ramp, where the whales were pulled up on land

Fishing boats